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The Pure Cold Light
Guerrilla activist and rebel journalist Thomasina Lyell discovers a destructive, mind-shattering power that threatens the future of humankind and will stop at nothing to reveal it to the world. Original.
- GenresScience Fiction
242 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1993
26 people want to read
About the author
Gregory Frost
87 books105 followersGregory Frost is an American author of fantasy, science fiction and thrillers. He taught fiction writing at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania for eighteen years. A graduate of the iconic Clarion Workshop, he has taught at Clarion four times, including the first session following its move to the University of California at San Diego in 2007. He has also been an instructor for the Odyssey and Alpha Workshops.
Frost has been a finalist for every major fantasy, sf, and horror fiction award. His novelette, "Madonna of the Maquiladora" was a finalist for the James Tiptree Award, the Nebula Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and the Hugo Award.
His latest novel is RHYMER, the first in the Rhymer series from Baen Books. His previous work, SHADOWBRIDGE, was voted one of the best fantasy novels of 2009 by the American Library Association, it was also a finalist for the James Tiptree Jr. Award.
The historical thriller FITCHER'S BRIDES, was a Best Novel finalist for both the World Fantasy and International Horror Guild Awards for Best Novel.
Publishers Weekly called his Golden Gryphon short story collection, ATTACK OF THE JAZZ GIANTS & OTHER STORIES, “one of the best of the year.” It has now been reprinted in slightly altered form as THE GIRLFRIENDS OF DORIAN GRAY & OTHER STORIES, available through Book View Cafe.
Current short fiction includes "A Hard Day's Night at the Opera" in the Beatles-themed anthology ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, edited by Michael Ventrella and Randee Dawn, and "Episode in Liminal State Technical Support, or Mr. Grant in the Bardo" in THREE TIME TRAVELERS WALK INTO... edited by Michael A. Ventrella; "Traveling On" in the Sept/Oct. 2020 ASIMOV'S SCIENCE FICTION magazine, and "Ellende" in WEIRD TALES #364.
He spent time (did time?) as a researcher for non-fiction television shows on werewolves and the "Curse of the Pharaohs," and acted in a couple of frightening (not necessarily in the sense of scary) indie horror movies.
Gregory Frost is a founding partner, with author Jonathan Maberry, of The Philadelphia Liars Club, a group of professional authors and screenwriters, and one of the interviewers for The Liars Club Oddcast , a podcast interviewing novelists, short story writers, screenwriters, illustrators, and more.
Frost has been a finalist for every major fantasy, sf, and horror fiction award. His novelette, "Madonna of the Maquiladora" was a finalist for the James Tiptree Award, the Nebula Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and the Hugo Award.
His latest novel is RHYMER, the first in the Rhymer series from Baen Books. His previous work, SHADOWBRIDGE, was voted one of the best fantasy novels of 2009 by the American Library Association, it was also a finalist for the James Tiptree Jr. Award.
The historical thriller FITCHER'S BRIDES, was a Best Novel finalist for both the World Fantasy and International Horror Guild Awards for Best Novel.
Publishers Weekly called his Golden Gryphon short story collection, ATTACK OF THE JAZZ GIANTS & OTHER STORIES, “one of the best of the year.” It has now been reprinted in slightly altered form as THE GIRLFRIENDS OF DORIAN GRAY & OTHER STORIES, available through Book View Cafe.
Current short fiction includes "A Hard Day's Night at the Opera" in the Beatles-themed anthology ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, edited by Michael Ventrella and Randee Dawn, and "Episode in Liminal State Technical Support, or Mr. Grant in the Bardo" in THREE TIME TRAVELERS WALK INTO... edited by Michael A. Ventrella; "Traveling On" in the Sept/Oct. 2020 ASIMOV'S SCIENCE FICTION magazine, and "Ellende" in WEIRD TALES #364.
He spent time (did time?) as a researcher for non-fiction television shows on werewolves and the "Curse of the Pharaohs," and acted in a couple of frightening (not necessarily in the sense of scary) indie horror movies.
Gregory Frost is a founding partner, with author Jonathan Maberry, of The Philadelphia Liars Club, a group of professional authors and screenwriters, and one of the interviewers for The Liars Club Oddcast , a podcast interviewing novelists, short story writers, screenwriters, illustrators, and more.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 18, 2024
More of an action thriller steeped in science fiction atmosphere rather than a science fiction novel of ideas. Not bad by any means, but certainly not groundbreaking.
March 21, 2013
I received a free copy of this book in return for a review, via the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.
It's the President Odie Show! With Veep Schnepfe! The Capitol Hill Synthestra! And tonight's very special guests in an exclusive interview: the Chief Officers of ScumberCorp!
Sometime in the near future, the President of the USA is a figurehead who courts popularity with his TV talk show, while behind the scenes the board of ScumberCorp, the largest multi-national company by far, has its own agenda which involves manipulating the inhabitants of the Under City into collaborating in their own downfall.
When female private eye Thomasina Lyell realises that there is something odd is going on when she sees a brain-damaged man being brought down from the Moon by two company heavies, she and her friend, underground film-maker Nebergall, can't help but get involved. It is the start of an exciting adventure which takes Thomasina from the Overcity where the elite live and work in tower blocks linked by skywalks, to the ground level Undercity which the underclass who live there call Box City, and down to the tunnels of the abandoned underground railway where those who have fallen even lower are banished.
The story is an exciting thriller with a confusing denouement. I was expecting Mingo's search for aliens to be a cover story for something else, so the revelation about the disappearing Orbitol addicts was unexpected, and I found it hard to grasp until the final confrontation in the ScumberCorp boardroom.
It may have amused the author to make a pun about scum rising to the top, but it is just not believable for a multinational corporation to be named ScumberCorp, so the name jarred for mre.
It's the President Odie Show! With Veep Schnepfe! The Capitol Hill Synthestra! And tonight's very special guests in an exclusive interview: the Chief Officers of ScumberCorp!
Sometime in the near future, the President of the USA is a figurehead who courts popularity with his TV talk show, while behind the scenes the board of ScumberCorp, the largest multi-national company by far, has its own agenda which involves manipulating the inhabitants of the Under City into collaborating in their own downfall.
When female private eye Thomasina Lyell realises that there is something odd is going on when she sees a brain-damaged man being brought down from the Moon by two company heavies, she and her friend, underground film-maker Nebergall, can't help but get involved. It is the start of an exciting adventure which takes Thomasina from the Overcity where the elite live and work in tower blocks linked by skywalks, to the ground level Undercity which the underclass who live there call Box City, and down to the tunnels of the abandoned underground railway where those who have fallen even lower are banished.
The story is an exciting thriller with a confusing denouement. I was expecting Mingo's search for aliens to be a cover story for something else, so the revelation about the disappearing Orbitol addicts was unexpected, and I found it hard to grasp until the final confrontation in the ScumberCorp boardroom.
It may have amused the author to make a pun about scum rising to the top, but it is just not believable for a multinational corporation to be named ScumberCorp, so the name jarred for mre.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 4, 2014
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11935256
I obtained this book through the Early Reviewers giveaway at LibraryThing, but only managed to get around to reading it over the Christmas/New Year break.
Hard sci-fi set in a dystopian future.
The plot involves an investigation by a video-journalist into a mysterious man she meets who is being escorted back to Earth after he has been injured badly on the Moon. Along the way she discovers that he is being set up as the fall guy by big business, or rather global business. What are they trying to cover up? Take a number. Distribution of the drug Orbitol which gradually causes the user to fade away to nothingness. First contact with aliens. The murder of the homeless and poor to create interdimensional gateways. The use of the media to misinform and control the masses. And so on. It makes the worlds of 1984, Soylent Green and Blade Runner all seem positively benign.
I don't want to say more about the plot at that would give away the twists that lead to a satisfying conclusion.
Recommended for readers who enjoy hard sci-fi with just a little something to say about trends in modern society.
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11935256
I obtained this book through the Early Reviewers giveaway at LibraryThing, but only managed to get around to reading it over the Christmas/New Year break.
Hard sci-fi set in a dystopian future.
The plot involves an investigation by a video-journalist into a mysterious man she meets who is being escorted back to Earth after he has been injured badly on the Moon. Along the way she discovers that he is being set up as the fall guy by big business, or rather global business. What are they trying to cover up? Take a number. Distribution of the drug Orbitol which gradually causes the user to fade away to nothingness. First contact with aliens. The murder of the homeless and poor to create interdimensional gateways. The use of the media to misinform and control the masses. And so on. It makes the worlds of 1984, Soylent Green and Blade Runner all seem positively benign.
I don't want to say more about the plot at that would give away the twists that lead to a satisfying conclusion.
Recommended for readers who enjoy hard sci-fi with just a little something to say about trends in modern society.
March 26, 2013
In the near future, the world is dominated by multi-national corporations. and the biggest one is ScumberCorp which largely dominates the United States. ScumberCorp feeds drugs to the poor to keep them docile, including one called Orbitol which ultimately seems to cause its users to fade away into another dimension. Thomasina Lyell is an underground journalist who tries to expose damaging information about the corporations and stumbles onto a huge story when she sees a strange prisoner being escorted back from the Moon.
This is a reissue of a 1993 book, and it has a lot of the standard cyberpunk feel of books from that time. The whole thing was just a little too generic, with an evil corporation that employs a totally conscienceless assassin to do its dirty work. The tone also veers between satire and a thriller and the combination doesn't really work. The writing itself is not bad, but the book was nothing special.
This is a reissue of a 1993 book, and it has a lot of the standard cyberpunk feel of books from that time. The whole thing was just a little too generic, with an evil corporation that employs a totally conscienceless assassin to do its dirty work. The tone also veers between satire and a thriller and the combination doesn't really work. The writing itself is not bad, but the book was nothing special.
March 5, 2013
An absolutely fantastic Sci-Fi Political thriller. I LOVED it! In a world where large corporations run the government and try to reduce the population by drug addiction and infusing fast food with drugs, it really makes you wonder what you think is really going on in the world vs. what is the truth. Anyone who likes political thrillers would love this. I'm not always a huge fan of Sci-Fi, but this was wonderful!
February 13, 2013
I struggled wit this book, but I cannot put my finger on why. I think most of the time it was the composition of words what I found strange. Maybe it was not my style. I don't know.
The idea behind the story was interesting, but the author could get more out of it. The book had a cyberpunk touch (big, evil company, gadgets etc.), but not close enough. I found the villain weak.
The idea behind the story was interesting, but the author could get more out of it. The book had a cyberpunk touch (big, evil company, gadgets etc.), but not close enough. I found the villain weak.
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May 5, 2013Twenty years old and still currently applicable, not dated.
October 26, 2024
i got a bit lost following reading this book.
My point exactly.
My point exactly.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews